Troy Graves To Return To City— And 2118 N. Damen Ave.— With Red Door

Years ago chef Troy Graves worked with Christopher Peckat at Meritage in Bucktown. Graves went on to a promising career at Tallulah in Lincoln Square and his restaurant Eve in the Gold Coast, but seemed to stall out when his partners closed Eve (and eventually opened Bistronomic in the space); he did some time at a restaurant in Algonquin called Montarra, and Cantina 46 downtown. But now Eater reports that he’s coming back not just to the city… but to the exact location where he made his name: Graves, Peckat and Fei Tang are the ones who took over the Duchamp space at 2118 N. Damen a couple of months back, which before that, had been Meritage. And on May 3 they’ll be opening Red Door, an internationally-focused small plates dinner and lunch spot with brunch and a seasonal beverage program. Though the menu is new, they say they’ve changed Duchamp/Meritage relatively little physically— especially its best feature, the large outdoor garden, where they’ll occasionally host special events like a pig roast. [Eater]